Sam's Club Tweaks Scan & Go App To Allow Users To Pay Via Mobile
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
App has potential to be rolled out to more Sam’s Club and possible Walmart stores in the future.
Sam’s Club has updated its Scan & Go App for customers of the big box store, allowing for easier use and checkout of items in-store. Parent company Walmart has been testing a service called Shop & Go for several years now. The first Scan & Go beta test was introduced in Fayetteville, AR, and the original version of the app required users to pay for purchased in the self-checkout lanes. The updates to the app help save customers time, especially during peak shopping hours when the check-out lines are busiest.
Customers can download the Scan & Go App and open it inside any club, then they scan each barcode as they add items to their carts. If an item does not have a barcode, there is a “Find An Item” feature to help locate a price. The App displays a running total of the items in your cart as you shop, and when you are finished, you can check out and pay in the app, and show your e-receipt to the greeter on your way out of the store.
The option is currently available at 259 clubs nationwide, with expansion plans for the future. Scan & Go is separate from the existing Sam’s Club app and can be downloaded free from the Apple App Store. While the app is currently only available for iPhone, an Android version is in the works and should be available soon.
“We are always looking for ways to optimize checkout for improved speed of service and member experience,” Dianna Gee, spokeswoman for Sam’s Club, told Mobile Commerce Daily. “There is new technology in place that wasn’t previously available with the 2013 pilot.
“This new technology means an improved interface that is more user-friendly and simple, a paperless process, improved bar code scanning and the ability for members to skip the registers and make a payment directly from their mobile phone,” she said. “These enhancements mean a much easier and more convenient experience that saves our members time.”
The app is one part of Walmart’s strategy to leverage mobile to streamline the customer experience in-store. Shauna Bowen, vice president of operations transformation at Sam’s Club explained, “The primary focus is to elevate the member experience by making the checkout process faster as well as making it more convenient for the member.”
“We always want to innovate in mobile,” added Gee.